Holder for reels of developed photographic paper



July 11, 1950 v. J. FORGETT HOLDER FOR REELS OF DEVELOPED PHOTOGRAPHICPAPER Filed Oct.- 30, 1947 INVENTOR.

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Patented July 11, 1950 HOLDERFOR REELS OF DEVELOPED PHOTOGRAPHIC PAPER'v or e J. Forgett, Ridgefield,'N. J.

3 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for holding The reels are wet wetreels and for maintainingthe desired tensionon thepaper as itis fed tothe dryer.

Another object ofthe invention is toprovide such a reel holder withguides that enable it to serve equally well for holding a single reel ora plurality of reels; and it is a feature of the invention that theapparatus is simple, inexpensive to manufacture, and that it isconvenient to use, there being no adjustments required regardless .ofthe number of reels with which it is used and regardless of the diameterof the respective reels. Inorder to avoid possible damage to pictures asthe result of convolutions of the paper becoming "partially dry whilereeled up and in the holder, this invention includes means for keeping."the paper wet while in the" holder.

i the line 22 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectionalview on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

The reel holder comprises a trough having a substantiallysemi-cylindrical bottom Ill connected to end walls II and I2. These endwalls are soldered or' otherwise integrally connected with the oppositeends of the bottom MI, and the end walls extend a slight distance belowthe bottom l and have outwardly turned flanges I4 which serve as legsfor supporting the holder on a table or other surface.

The bottom It and the end walls II and. i2 are preferablysheet metal.The bottom extends upward to beads l6 formed by turning over the sideedges of the sheet metal from which the bottom is constructed. Thesebeads 16 provide additional strength along the edges of the trough.

The end walls H and I2 extend for a substantial distance above the beadsIt, and support a rod l8 that extends for the fulllength of the trough.This rod is held against endwise displacement by walls H and I2.

reels of photographic paper after they come from a'contin'uo us stripdeveloper.

and they are passed through a dryer before the individual pictures .onthe strip are cut apart and .sorted. 1

It is an object of this invention to provide improved apparatus forholding one or more of the bushing 2 I.

, dryer.

Applicationoctober 30,1947, Serial No. 783,195

, l 2 Guides 20 are supported from the rod l8. Each of these guides 20is a channelrshaped element,

' preferably of sheet metal; and the rod [8 extends through the oppositesides of each channel and supports the guides 20 for angular movementabout. the axis of the rod.

The guide 20 nearest to the end wall H is spaced from the end wall by abushing 2| on the rod l8. The guides 20' are spaced from one another-bysimilar bushings 22 on the rod l8, and the guide 20 nearest the otherend wall I2 is likewise spaced from the end wall by a sleeve or I Thedrawing shows reels 25 of photographic paper resting on'the. bottom Ii]and with paper from the outercon'volutions paying out through theadjacent guides 28 and held against lateral displacement by these guides20. The run of the paper passing from each of the reels 25 to a dryer(not shown) is indicated by the reference character 26. The paper passesunder the rod I8 and along the guide 20 to a feed belt 21 of the Theupper end of the guide 20 rests on the belt 2'l. There is preferably aseparate belt 21 for each reel. By preventing transverse dis placementof the run of the paper being withdrawn from each reel, the guides 2!]keep the reels themselves in spaced relation to one another. No matterhow small the diameter of the reel becomes, the run of the paper 26passing along the channelled guide 20 holds the reel against transversedisplacement in the trough.

The drawing shows the trough of the reel holder with a semi-cylindricalbottom, and this shape of bottom is preferred. The curve of the bottomIt can be less than but it is a feature of the invention that the sidesof the trough are steep enough to prevent the reel 25 from rolling upthe side of the trough as the paper is drawn from the reel. A radius ofcurvature for the bottom of the trough somewhat greater than theoriginal diameter of the reels 25 is preferred. This shape of bottommakes the reels pay out evenly with very little friction, and withoutdanger of becoming scratched.

It is also advantageous to have the trough deep enough to immerse asubstantial portion of the reels 25 in water because the buoyancy of thewater decreases the weight of the reels and reduces the friction of thereels on the bottom ID.

The curved shape of the bottom I0 facilitates washing of the reelholder, but it will be understood that shapes other than asemi-cylindrical shape can be used. Other changes and modifications canbe made, and some features of the invention can be used alone or indifferent comradius of said semi-cylindrical bottom being somewhatgreater than the radius of thewfully wound reels with which theapparatus is. intended to be used, and said end walls extending to alevel above the top edges of thesemi-jcylindrical bottom and extendingto a level below the bottom to provide feet to stably support theapparatus, a rod located above one of said top edges and supported bysaid end walls, a plurality of guides extending within .the troughandspacedirom one another lengthwise .of the ltrough, ea.ch. of said guideshaving .sides .space'dfrom one.ano',ther by a distance slightly. greaterr than Ithe width of one of the reels, a ,bearingsonitheendnf .each

guide surrounding said rodland ,angularly 'mov able 0n the rod about theaxis of the rodsaid bearings beinglocated ;high enough. on: the sides.of each guide .to. leave lclearancejor the passage of the photographicpaperbetween the rod and the guide' andlspacer sleeves .on the rodspacing the guidesfrom oneanother and spacing the end guides from theend walls.

2. Apparatus for holding reels ofphotographic greater than ;the radiusof the fully wound reels with which .the apparatus isinten'ded tobeused,

a plurality of guidesconnected with one side of the trough and spacedfrom one another lengthwise of the trough and each of which extendswithin the trough at one end, each of said guides having sides spacedfrom one another by a distance slightlygreater than the width of one ofthe reels, the connection of each guide with the trough including abearing on which the guide is movable about an axis extendingsubstantially parallel with the length of the trough.

.3. Apparatusfor holding reels of photographic paper, said apparatusincluding a substantially "semi-cylindrical bottom and end walls forminga trough for holding water in which the reels are :at least partiallysubmerged when in the holding apparatus, said bottom comprising thesupport for reels within the apparatus and the radius of saidsemi-cylindrical bottom being somewhat greater than the radius of thefully wound reels withw-hich the apparatus is intended to be used, aplurality of guides connected with one side of the-trough and spacedfrom one another lengthwise of the trough and each of which hasupstanding sides spacedfromlone another by a distance.slightlygraaterthan'the width ofone of the reels and forming achannelthrough-which paper payed out from the reel passes, eachroi saidchannels having one lendcommunicating with the trough and having itslength extending outward from the trough in a direction substantiallynormal to the length of the trough.

i VALMORE J..FORGETT.

- "REFERENCES CITED The iollowingreferences are .of.record inthe file ofthis patent:

UNITED" STATES PATENTS Number I Name Date 2,376,204 Sullivan May 15,1945 .FOREIGN BATENTS Number Country Date 9,460 France -Sept."5, 19'08(FirstadditiontofNo.L384,115) 213,973 Great Britain Apr. .10, 1924

